


Blood in the Water

by skullkidd



Series: As Above So Below [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, M/M, a few tw, demon kid crying, implied akusai, sequel time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2019-09-16 19:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16960230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skullkidd/pseuds/skullkidd
Summary: Two years since Ventus, and two years into Vanitas's reign as King of the Dark Realm.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't let this story go without a proper sequel, and I'm mostly writing this mostly for myself because I miss writing it. Expect a very casual upload schedule as this is now my 2nd WIP right now. I hope I do the original justice.

Vanitas wakes up to pounding on his door.

He gets up with a groan, shuffling to the door and opening it to glare up at Axel. “What?”

“Just cause you’re King now doesn’t mean you can get away with skipping work,” Axel points out, and Vanitas rolls his eyes, attempting to slam the door in his face, but Axel stops it with his foot.

“If you’re trying to submit a complaint about Demyx, I’ve told you a thousand times, those go through Sora now,” he says, and Axel laughs harshly.

“Sora takes it way too seriously. It’s like he’s trying so damn hard to impress you, as if he couldn’t throw you in jail and still have your undying love.”

“That was _years_ ago, and yet you still haven’t forgotten somehow.”

Axel shrugs with a smirk. “Seeing your ass thrown into the dungeons was all the gratification I ever needed after all the times you told me to piss off.”

Vanitas raises an eyebrow at Axel, who just continues staring down at him with his shit eating grin. “I’m not working today, I just decided. I’m sick.”

Axel rolls his eyes, and before Vanitas can even blink Axel’s throwing him over his shoulder and closing the door behind them both. “What are you doing?!” Vanitas demands as Axel takes off down the hallway.

“You’re needed in the throne room, boss. It’s not about me and Demyx this time.”

“You need to let me change-” Vanitas says, though Axel cuts him off.

“You could have changed if you had woken up at an appropriate hour. God, you’d be so dead without me.”

“I wish I was dead,” Vanitas snaps, punching Axel in the back. “You need to let me go _right now_ before I send you to the fucking _Guillotine-”_

He cuts himself off as Axel throws the doors open to the throne room, realizing there’s an entire audience staring at the two of them. “Axel, are you _fucking_ kidding me?” He mutters dangerously as the redhead sets him down and he awkwardly waves at everyone watching them with concern. He’s wearing a stained white T-shirt that doesn’t really belong to him, but he kept from his days on earth as a Human. He’s always just held onto it for a fair trade until he gets his favorite sweater back, which means it does belong to him, because he knows he’ll never get the black hoodie back. Which is fine, because he probably wouldn’t ever be able to look at it in the same way. Not after everything.

Paired with the borrowed T-shirt are bare feet and a pair of fuzzy pajama pants. Everyone in the room with him is in their official uniform, and he looks absolutely ridiculous in comparison. He awkwardly walks to the throne across the room, bare feet making far too much noise on the floor against the silence of the room as he puts his crown onto his messy hair and sits down. “What is this audience for, Axel?”

“Someone asked to speak with you, with an audience present,” Axel says, gesturing to his side as a girl with short copper hair steps forward, bowing deeply to him, and he resists the urge to roll his eyes before picking up a particularly strong light from her.

“State your name and business, please,” Sora says from the side, Vanitas only taking note of his presence then. Sora has better things to do than hang out in the throne room while Vanitas is meeting with someone, but Vanitas knows that Sora always takes a particular interest when anyone with an ounce of light arrives in Hell, including Roxas on his first unannounced visit which almost got him killed by the entrance guards. Sora eyes the girl down with a particular interest, and Vanitas has to stifle a sigh. He’d told his brother countless times to just _go visit Roxas in Heaven, you deserve to know that side of your identity,_ but Sora refuses every time he suggests a trip. He knows it’s because Sora thinks Vanitas will think lesser of their blood relationship if he were to embrace his Angel identity, but that couldn’t be further from the case. Still, despite this, Sora refuses to even acknowledge that side of himself. He refuses to let anyone refer to him as anything other than his name, going so far as to make Vanitas sit down with Naminé after she’d called Sora _your majesty_ one time too many.

The girl stands and stares at Vanitas with worry clear in her bright blue eyes. “Your majesties,” she says, nodding to Vanitas and Sora both, “My name is Kairi, and I’m a Cherub in Heaven’s Army. I come with worry about the current status of Heaven’s leadership. With no fault to Roxas in his leadership, he’s assigned a right hand that a few people are weary of trusting. His name is Xemnas, he was an advisor to Lord Eraqus before his passing two years ago, and since his promotion the people of Heaven have been seeing Roxas less and less with each passing day. I worry it has something to do with a conspiracy.”

Vanitas takes her words in with fingers pressed to his lips. He glances a Sora, who gives him a small shrug, before he sighs. “I appreciate you making the trip all the way here with your concerns, however, I fear there’s nothing I can do about them. It seems as though this is an internal problem in Heaven, which is far out of my jurisdiction-”

“Your brother… He’s Heaven’s rightful heir,” Kairi says, cutting him off. A few people in the audience gasp, and Vanitas sees Axel giving him a worried glance from his position next to the other Reapers. “He could help us, right? He has to have some say.”

“Sora has as much say in the decisions made on the throne as you do,” Vanitas says in a warning tone, and Kairi looks absolutely defeated by his words. He feels bad, but there’s not much he can do in the way of going gentle on her. He doesn’t like being harsh with anyone, really, he hasn’t since he’d met the one person who’d changed all his views on the world, but he hasn’t much of a choice if he wants to appear strong to the people who would take advantage of kindness, and the Dark Realm is full of those. “He renounced his claim to the throne within hours of finding out about it. I’m sorry, Kairi, but there’s nothing I can do for you. I will recommend one thing, though,” he says, and her eyes light up momentarily. “Seek out Terra. He’ll know what to do for you.”

She gives him a small smile and nods, as Vanitas turns to Sora. “Take Riku and assist her back to Heaven’s gates. Send my regards to Roxas,” he says, and Sora nods.

“Right.”

Sora helps Kairi out of the throne room and sets off to find Riku as Vanitas dismisses the audience. Only Axel lingers, speaking only when the doors close behind the last person. “What do you think that was about?”

Vanitas shrugs, glancing back at the throne at the top of a short set of stairs. “I have no idea. I hope it’s just anxiety, I have enough to deal with right now.”

“Yeah, we’re coming up on the anniversary, aren’t we?” Axel says, not even seemingly trying to sound sympathetic. He knows that’s not how Axel is, and he’s slightly grateful that Axel is the only person who’s even capable of saying the name _Ventus_ to Vanitas’s face. It’s nice to hear it sometimes, to remember that he was real, that he wasn’t always just a figment of Vanitas’s imagination. He nods solemnly, unable to meet Axel’s eyes. The redhead may be Vanitas’s closest friend, but even so he wouldn’t be able to let the taller boy see the glassiness in his eyes.

“It never really gets easier.”

“Yeah, and it never will,” Axel says with a light chuckle, and Vanitas looks up at him to see a lack of a smile. Axel mentions Saîx every once in a while, but Vanitas doesn’t like to bring him up first.

“I hope not. I don’t want it to be easier, I don’t want to forget him. I think Roxas and I have agreed to name the Day of the Dead Gala in his name, actually. You know, as a sort of celebration of his sacrifice.”

Axel nods, though Vanitas can tell he’s looking right through him. He sighs, dragging his eyes to the ground and letting out a shaky breath. “You’re doing it again, aren’t you?”

Vanitas whips his head up to look at Axel, who looks more disappointed than angry. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“If you leave your kid brother to take the throne I’ll hang your head on the wall,” Axel warns, and Vanitas doesn’t respond. He looks down at the crescent moon shaped marks scarred into his hands before clenching a fist and sighing.

“Some days are worse than others. I’m doing better, I swear.”

“I’d hope so. Dragging your ass out of bed every morning is becoming a chore, and it was not in the job description when your old man promoted me to Reaper. Come on, let’s get some lunch. I think you need to get your mind off of everything.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the lack of updates. Writer's block has been killing me and the holidays have been keeping me super busy, I hope you all understand!

Sora returns shortly after Axel and Vanitas finish lunch.

It’s not a far adventure to Heaven’s gates, especially not with Sora being one of the few people with permission to use the portal in the Dark Realm. Vanitas has assigned guards the moment he became king, knowing full well the shenanigans he and Sora used to get into together, and now, with so many Reapers able to use the portal and traverse to the Mortal Realm, he doesn’t need any of them causing any more trouble than he and Sora used to.

Vanitas’s traverses into the Mortal Realm were, by extension, the reason he’d lost Ventus. He knows if he hadn’t broken the rules so much, Ven would still be alive, but he also knows there’s nothing he can do to change it.

Vanitas heads back to his room after thanking Sora and Riku, locking his door behind him and sending a sideways glance at his locked drawer. He approaches it, taking out his key and opening it, pulling out the small shard of an angel blade that he’d pocketed after a particularly grueling battle with some angel in the Mortal Realm after the war that had taken place two years earlier. A lot of angels still don’t trust him, believing firmly in some conspiracy that Vanitas had worked alongside his father, Xehanort, to have Ventus killed. He hadn’t killed the angel who took him on, just shattered his blade and kept a piece for himself after Axel had confiscated his first one.

He takes it out, wrapping it in a shirt as he picks it up and studies it. It’s the same color smoky gray as Ventus’s Keyblade, Wayward Wind, had been. He can see his own reflection in the metal, his golden eyes sitting above dark bags and a pale face. He sighs as he lifts the jagged edge of the blade to his neck, letting out a shaky breath until the burning sensation gets too much for him to handle, forcing his hand away from his neck again and towards his opposite arm. He studies the collection of scars, usually hidden by blazers or loose black tops on casual days, before digging the metal into his arm until he starts feeling lightheaded. It’s a good feeling, the lightheadedness that an incomplete angel blade causes him. They’re made from a special kind of material that isn’t  _ metal  _ but Vanitas has no idea what it’s  _ actually  _ called, so metal it is. Something about this particular piece being so far from the rest of the blade and so far from  _ Heaven  _ apparently makes it some sort of intoxicant for Demons, Vanitas more specifically, as he’s the strongest demon of everyone, meaning the material has a stronger effect on him.

He waits until he feels high enough from the blade meeting with the black blood that runs through his veins until he pulls the blade out, pressing his hand down to keep from bleeding all over his room.

He places it back in his drawer, forgetting to lock it as he stumbles back to his bed and lays down, letting the feeling of euphoria that his shard causes. He closes his eyes as the room begins to swim, laying like that until a voice sounding like it’s coming from  _ beside  _ him rings in his ears.

_ Come on, Vani, you’re better than this. _

His eyes fly open at the familiarity of the voice, though his vision is hazy. He can just barely make out the messy blonde mop looking down at him as he struggles to make out the face.

“V…. Ventus?” he mutters, trying to reach his hand out to touch him. “You can’t... Be here.”

_ Get a hold of yourself, I can’t lose you now. _

It’s a few moments of closed eyes before his eyes flutter open again, this time with the high dying down and his eyes able to make out the face of the person above him, looking significantly different than before. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Axel!” Vanitas breathes, jumping to a sitting position and pulling his sleeve down over his arm. Axel’s glaring at him, looking vehemently displeased. “How did you get in here?”

“I had your key doubled when I found your last shiv,” Axel says with a raised eyebrow, and Vanitas sights, dragging his eyes down to stare at his covered arm in shame. “You look like shit.”

“Coming from you,” Vanitas mutters, ignoring the seething glance Axel sends him in response. “It’s not that big of a deal-“

“Oh, your suicidal tendencies aren’t a big deal?  _ Really?  _ You wanna sit there and tell me you carving polka dots into your forearm isn’t a big deal,  _ your majesty? _ ”

“I’m not  _ suicidal!” _ Vanitas snaps, though he still can’t bring himself to look up at the redhead. “It’s just… An escape. I don’t know.”

He’s forced to look over at Axel when he doesn’t receive an immediate response. The redhead’s eyes are soft, despite his previous outburst. “I know it’s hard. I lost Saïx years ago, and it  _ still  _ burns me to think about. It doesn’t get better, but it gets different. You’ll be okay, boss, but you have to want to be. Think about all the people here who need you. Sora couldn’t lead this place on his own, I know you know that. He couldn’t live without you, you know. How you feel now? He’d feel exactly that if you left him here. Think about that next time. You need an anchor.”

With that, Axel gets to his feet and heads for the door, pausing for a moment to open Vanitas’s top drawer, Vanitas’s keys still hanging from the lock, and pulls his shard out, digging it into his pocket and heading out, doing an astounding job of not flinching at the burning feeling Vanitas is sure it's causing him. “I’ll see you tomorrow, boss. Bright and early.”

 

* * *

 

Vanitas gets to work the next day without being able to look Axel in the eye. The withdrawals hit pretty hard that morning, and Vanitas spends the majority of his day trying to will his hands to stop shaking and his mind to stop begging him for another scar on his arm. He sighs, rubbing his eyes as Riku approaches him. “I didn’t get to catch you yesterday. Roxas sent this.”

He hands Vanitas a stark white envelope with his own name written on the front in calligraphy. He rolls his eyes at the formality as he tears it open, giving it a quick scan.

“Says he’s sending a representative from Heaven to help oversee the planning for the Day of the Dead gala,” Vanitas says. “He wants me to send one, too,” he sighs as he closes the letter. “I can’t spare any Reapers right now.”

“I could go,” Riku offers, and Vanitas raises an eyebrow.

“You’re not a Reaper. You can’t even go to the Mortal Realm without taking a human form.”

Riku shrugs, though a small smile tugs at the sides of his lips. “Sora says it’s about time I get promoted, anyway.”

Vanitas has to stifle a smile as he rolls his eyes. “Sora’s right. After everything you did for me when I had my memory wiped… You do deserve a promotion. What’s one more Reaper, anyway?”

Riku grins as Vanitas heads over to Sora’s office to get the paperwork in order and write Roxas a response letter, though he’s stopped along the way by the newest Reaper in the ranks, Naminé.

“Vanitas? I need to talk to you about something.”

Vanitas stops as he realizes she looks incredibly concerned. “What is it?”

She looks like she’s about to speak, though her jaw slams closed as she glances over Vanitas’s shoulder. He turns, eyes meeting the taller pink-haired stature of Marluxia. “Oh, hey.”

“Vanitas,” Marluxia nods, though his attention is on Naminé exclusively. “Naminé, lets not bother Vanitas with tedious concerns that can be taken up

with our department heads, alright?”

She sends Vanitas a glance before nodding to Marluxia, ducking her her head and shuffling quickly down the hallway. “She seemed pretty worried, Marluxia,” Vanitas says with only mild concern, but Marluxia just shrugs.

“She has a tendency to over-worry about tiny things. I’m sure it was nothing that the head of her department can’t handle. Where are you headed, sir?”

“I need to talk to Sora. I’m promoting another Reaper,” Vanitas says, smiling a little at the sentiment. He likes Riku, especially for Sora. He’s a good realistic foil to Sora’s everpresent optimism, and Riku always manages to keep his brother grounded.

“Oh, another one? Who’s the lucky demon?”

“Riku,” Vanitas says, and he notices a flicker of an emotion he can’t quite place in Marluxia’s eyes, but it’s gone as quickly as it had appeared.

“Oh, good for him. He deserves a promotion, I’d say. He works hard.”

“I agree. I’m sending him to Heaven as our representative for the Day of the Dead ceremony, and Heaven is sending a representative to us. Roxas says she’ll be here in a few days, which gives me enough time to get Riku promoted and send him up.”

The same emotion flickers across Marluxia’s face, and Vanitas raises an eyebrow in response. He doesn’t get a chance to question it before Marluxia is speaking.

“Well, I look forward to meeting this Heaven representative. I’ve never had a pleasant experience with an Angel, hopefully that changes soon.” He gives Vanitas a friendly smile before turning and walking off. Vanitas watches him for a moment before heading off to Sora’s office, feeling Marluxia’s eyes turn to watch him as he walks.


	3. Chapter 3

“Oh, before you all go, the new Heaven representative will be joining us within the next few days. I believe Roxas said her name is Xion, and I want you all to make her feel as welcome as possible. We’ll also be losing Riku to Heaven for a little while, which I don’t think will be an issue since he’s new enough to not have settled into a routine with the rest of you yet. That’ll be all.”

The Reapers gathered at the planning committee table all stand, ready to leave. As they all shuffle out the door, one hangs back along with Vanitas until the door closes.

“Can I talk to you?”

He looks up from his papers to see that Naminé hadn’t moved from her seat.

“Yeah, of course.”

She looks pensive, pausing for a moment as if to gather her thoughts. Before she can, though, the door opens, Marluxia popping his head in. “Hey, Naminé, I need your help with a mission right away, if you have time.”

She shoots a nervous look at Vanitas, who raises an eyebrow at her. “Go ahead, we can talk later,” he says, making her look even more nervous for some reason. She nods, however, and heads out with Marluxia.

Vanitas, left alone, sighs, slouching down in his chair and putting his face in his hands.  _ Everything’s harder without you. _

After Sora had been coronated as Crown Prince, he’d left his position as head of the Physical Torture department, and with the loss _(_ _ execution)  _ of Xigbar, both head positions had been left open. Promoting Axel seemed like an obvious choice, him being in the Physical Torture department longer than Vanitas has been alive, leaving Vanitas the tough decision of choosing someone to head the Psychological department. He’d considered Demyx before rescinding that choice as soon as he’d realized that the Dark Realm wouldn’t last long if he and Axel were both heads. He’d apologized to Demyx for this choice, but Demyx hadn’t seemed like he cared all that much. Naminé was both too new and timid for the position, Zexion was too young, and Luxord just seemed too… Disposable. The only Reaper that left was Marluxia, who seemed like a decent enough fit for the role.

Axel and Marluxia have their fair share of arguments as department heads, but it’s nothing near the level of Sora and Xigbar’s relationship. Axel, at least, will stand up for himself if Marluxia crosses a line, and Marluxia is good at keeping Axel working.

Axel was slightly less than pleased at Marluxia’s promotion, but Vanitas had assured him everything would be fine. His father may have been a corrupt and evil man, but he did pick a few damn good Reapers. Only a few of his father’s selected- Axel, Demyx, Marluxia, and Zexion- still remain, Vanitas having been coronated and Xigbar having been executed at Vanitas’s own hand, it only left 4 of the original 6 Reapers since the title had been made. Vanitas had promoted Naminé himself, making her the first new Reaper since Vanitas himself, followed shortly after by Sora, then Luxord, and, most recently, Riku.

As if reading his mind, a knock sounds on the door and Larxene strolls in. “I heard you’re giving out promotions.”

Vanitas sighs, sitting up straight in his chair and closing his binder of Gala plans. “I mean, I promoted Riku yesterday, but that’s it.”

“Why was Riku your first choice?” She demands, clearly angered by his decision. “He’s puny, and in my opinion, too weak.”

“And you think you’d be better?” he asks lazily. Larxene is too obvious, always yearning for more power than she has. Always living in her best friend Marluxia’s shadow. Vanitas can’t find it in him to care much about it, though. He’s never been particularly fond of Larxene.

“I know I would. I’m more experienced, the Reapers all know me better, and I’m not a child. I'm a Tier 5, there's no higher I can go.”

“Larxene, I have no need for any new Reapers at the moment. Honestly, had Roxas not wanted a Dark Realm representative up in Heaven for the Gala, I wouldn’t have promoted him at all. I just didn’t have enough numbers to spare any of the Reapers I had before I promoted him, with Sora being as busy as he is and Axel and Marluxia both running their departments. If I find I need a new Reaper, I’ll consider you. Okay?”

“This is such bullshit. Everyone knows you only promoted Naminé because you have a crush on her, and you overlooked everyone with actual credentials-”

Vanitas snaps at this. Larxene crosses lines almost every day, but accusing Vanitas of having a crush on Naminé for some reason makes him jump to his feet, summoning Void Gear and holding it to her throat. “If you ever say something like that again, I’ll kill you. No hesitation.”

Larxene looks scared for a moment, but it’s gone almost immediately. She rolls her eyes at him, though she doesn’t move, pinned against the wall by Vanitas’s weapon. “You’ve changed, you know. Since falling in love with an  _ angel.” _

She says it as if it’s some disgusting feat. He feels fires begin to burn inside of him as he slashes, cutting her across the cheek. She yelps, hands flying to the cut before glaring at Vanitas. “I think you should go.”

She glares at him for a few moments before huffing, turning on her heels, and storming out of the room. She slams the door behind her, and Vanitas rolls his eyes.  _ Not fond of Larxene at all. _

As soon as she’s gone, Vanitas digs into his pocket, pulling out the all too familiar green wayfinder that Roxas had given him shortly after Ventus had died.

He runs his thumb over the bumps on it, noting that it’s something Ven had definitely had for a long time before it ended up in Vanitas’s possession. He’s so swept up in studying it that he doesn’t even realize he’s crying until a tear drops onto it, and he quickly wipes the dampness from his cheek and sniffs. Roxas had informed him that Wayfinders are a special charm in Heaven, representing unbreakable connections, but Vanitas doesn’t see a point. What’s the point in representing an unbreakable connection if there’s nobody to find your way back to?

“I’ll see you soon,” he whispers, clutching it tightly and letting out a shaky breath.  _ If only that were true. _

He sighs, digging it back into his pocket as he grabs his books and head back to his room, deciding a good sleep would be a good idea considering tomorrow is the day that Roxas’s representative will arrive.

 

* * *

 

Axel wakes him up the next morning.

Vanitas hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, nightmares of Ventus dying playing over and over, keeping him awake. Axel can obviously tell, but he doesn’t say anything about it as he ushers Vanitas to get dressed.

The two of them get to the throne room, Vanitas putting his crown on as Sora enters, followed by a small, mousy black-haired girl. She makes it to the middle of the room, and Sora walks up to stand in his place beside Vanitas.

“You must be Xion,” he says, smiling as he walks down the stairs to her. She nods, bowing deeply to him.

“I am. It’s nice to meet you, Your Majesty.”

“Vanitas is fine,” he says, wishing people would stop bowing to him, but knowing it just comes with the job. “I’m glad you managed to find your way here without trouble. I trust Sora was good company.”

“Of course,” she says with a small smile. “He reminds me of Roxas. We had a good time.”

Vanitas nods, looking back at Sora. “Can you show her to her room?” Sora nods, walking down the stairs to them as Vanitas continues. “We meet twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sora can brief you on the scheduling, and you’re welcome to ask any of the Reapers as well. I recommend Axel, as he’s the most familiar with the plans, and our highest seniority Reaper.”

Xion nods, bowing again as Sora escorts her out of the room.

Axel approaches Vanitas as soon as they’re gone, Vanitas taking off his crown and throwing it carelessly onto the throne, much to Axel’s dismay. “You need to take better care of that thing.”

“Why?” Vanitas asks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Did you get  _ any  _ sleep last night?” Axel asks, and Vanitas just shrugs.

“Off and on. I’m okay, don’t worry.”

Axel doesn’t look convinced, but he just sighs. “Alright.”

“Wanna get lunch?” Vanitas asks, and Axel nods. “Next time we’ll have to invite Xion, too. Make her feel welcome. I think you guys are gonna end up spending a lot of time together, so we should get her accustomed to the place.”

“Why me?” Axel asks, and Vanitas shrugs, the two of them heading out.

“I don’t wanna trust anyone else, and Sora’s too busy.”

“Fair enough, boss.”


	4. Chapter 4

Vanitas wakes up the next day miserable.

The first thing he does when he opens his eyes is cry.

He’d had awful dreams of Ventus the night before, like he usually does, but this was worse. It’s always Ventus dying in his arms, but this time, Ventus had cursed him out as he bled out onto the ground, telling him it’s his fault, over and over again.

Vanitas wakes up with Ventus’s voice screaming  _ It’s your fault!  _ in his head. He presses his hands to his ears as he tries to block it out, but it’s coming from inside, over and over again, until he can’t take it.

He only knows one method of making things like this stop, but Axel had dug it into his pocket, so he has nothing except his own nails, getting to work on his skin until he’s scratched off enough layers across the sensitive skin on his forearm. He keeps going, tears streaming down his cheeks until someone knocks on his door, pulling Vanitas back to reality. He pulls his sleeve down over his arm as he gets up, wiping off his face and shuffling to the door. He opens it to see Axel standing there, rolling his eyes. “We invited Xion to lunch, remember? I figured you’d at least get up for that.”

“Do you have a problem?” Vanitas snaps. “I thought you understood that I’m kind of having a hard time right now. You said it yourself, it’s almost the anniversary-”

“Yeah, the two year anniversary. You have to try to move on at some point. Get dressed, she’s waiting for us.”

Vanitas just stares at him, wondering what made Axel decide to snap at him this morning of all mornings. He looks down at the ground, nodding. “Okay. Just give me a minute to get dressed.”

“Make it quick.”

Vanitas closes the door gently, turning around and leaning his back against it while trying- but failing- to hold back tears. He sobs for a moment too long, apparently, as Axel knocks on the door again, forcing him to jump. “What’s taking so long?”

“I, uh… Ripped my pants. One second.”

Vanitas dresses quickly after that, opening the door but refusing to look up at Axel. “Lead the way.”

He shuffles slowly behind the taller redhead as the two of them make their way to Xion. They meet her and decide to head to the Mortal Realm, since the food in the Dark Realm usually borders on questionable. Vanitas does his best to pretend as though Axel’s comment from earlier hadn’t shoved a dagger into his heart as he focuses on making Xion feel as welcome as possible.

He seems to be succeeding fairly well, and she seems like she’s having a good enough time, despite being shier than Riku, which is a hard feat in Vanitas’s experience. He’d be as shy as her had he not been born into royalty, but he didn’t have a choice in becoming as much of an extrovert as he could possibly be in his position.

They take their time at Vanitas and Sora’s favorite café in Vienna, though throughout the entire outing, Vanitas doesn’t really learn anything about Xion except that she’s Roxas’s best friend.

He’s surprised by her seeming lack of a life in general, but he brushes it aside as her and Axel seem to be having a great time. Vanitas sits mostly quietly as he allows Axel and Xion to become better friends, glad that he at least looks to have cheered up.

He excuses himself after a little while, saying he forgot about a meeting with Sora he’d planned, not wanting to deal with another lecture from Axel about the fact that he’s feeling too awful to sit there and make small talk. He leaves the two of them to finish as he walks back towards the portal to the Dark Realm.

He almost makes it there without any trouble, but he wouldn’t be so lucky.

As he’s reaching the portal, he’s greeted by a somewhat aggressive looking angel waiting for him there. “You’re a demon,” they say, as if it’s some grand revelation.

Vanitas digs his hands into his pockets, tired. “I don’t want any trouble. I’m just trying to get home.”

The angel raises a blade, and Vanitas can tell straight away it’s an Angel Blade. “I know who you are. You’re Vanitas, right? The King down there?”

Vanitas sighs, as unintimidated by this kid as he can possibly be. “Yes, and if you want to stay alive i suggest putting that thing down. Who are you?”

“My name is Seifer,” the kid responds, though he doesn’t lower his blade. “And I’m going to avenge what happened to Ventus.”

Vanitas, for some reason, feels like throwing up at the mention of Ventus. Very few people, save for Axel and occasionally Demyx, are willing to bring up Ventus so harshly. “I did that already, by killing my father. He’s the one who-”

“ _ You’re  _ the one who killed Ventus. He was supposed to be  _ our  _ king, but he died. Because of you.”

Something snaps in Vanitas as, in one swift movement, he lunges forward and summons Void Gear. He clashes with Seifer’s blade, and the more he hits it, the more damage he does until the entire blade shatters onto the ground. He knocks Seifer down easily, and the boy pitifully drops his weapon’s hilt and covers his face. Vanitas is about to deliver what would probably be one single fatal blow when he stops himself dead in his tracks.

_ What am I doing? _

He sends Void Gear away, looking down at his hands as they shake. The world starts to spin around him as he backs up, tripping over a root and hitting the ground, still studying his shaky hands.

_ I almost killed him. Why? Ventus wouldn’t have wanted this. He wouldn’t have wanted any of this. _

He looks up to see Seifer watching him from his own position on the ground. The boy looks only slightly concerned, mostly afraid. As Vanitas jumps to his feet, Seifer seems to panic, scrambling to his feet and taking off. Vanitas watches him go until he’s sure he’s gone, only then allowing himself to look down at the shattered blade on the ground. He bends down, looking at his own reflection in the shattered material. He looks up quickly as he hears voices approach, one sounding too close to Axel’s. He reaches down through his shirt, picking up a piece of the blade and digging it into his pocket as he takes off back through the portal.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> axel is trash 2k19

It’s been three weeks since Xion initially came to the Realm of Darkness.

Her and Riku have come to the checkpoint where they’re meant to switch locations for a few days to update their respective realms of the happenings of each other’s. Sora leaps on Riku the second he enters the throne room, and Vanitas has to bite down a smile as he sees the red flush into the silver-haired boy’s cheeks. Sora seems ecstatic, though Vanitas’s smile fades as he sees the grim look Riku sends him from Sora’s embrace.

Sora remains pressed against Riku as he gives his briefing, seeming far too composed and stoic for Vanitas’s liking. He dismisses Sora and Axel, the only other two people in the room, for a moment alone with Riku. Sora gives Riku’s hand a quick squeeze as Axel ushers him out of the room, and Vanitas doesn’t have the energy to wonder if Riku and Sora’s relationship has turned into more than friends without him even noticing.

He doesn’t have his crown on- he never does unless there’s an audience present, and he isn’t concerned with Sora or Riku seeing him without it. Normally he wouldn’t care about Axel seeing it’s absence either, but Axel’s been all but pushing their friendship over the line of making Vanitas want to deck him whenever he opens his snide mouth. He’s completely lost as to where Axel’s sudden apparent disdain for him came from, though he doesn’t have the time nor the energy to think about it. He’s taken to given Sora the jobs that he’s meant to do but usually hands off to Axel’s generally more capable hands, but at this point, Vanitas doesn’t even want to make eye contact with his once best friend.

He approaches Riku, placing a hand on his shoulder as Riku’s composure crumbles. “Things are really bad up there, Vanitas. Real bad.”

“What do you mean?” Vanitas asks. Riku was sent to Heaven as an ambassador from the Realm of Darkness for the Day of the Dead ceremony, not to report on affairs. Meaning, whatever he’d discovered, it’s gotta be pretty bad.

“I was talking to that girl who came down here a while ago, Kairi? She told me about the kinds of things going on since Roxas gave the Second in Command title to Xemnas.”

“I thought I told Kairi that isn’t our place-” Vanitas starts, but Riku cuts him off in a slight panic.

“Here’s the thing, though- Roxas never appointed Xemnas in the first place, not really. Xemnas has been acting Second in Command because Roxas  _ never appointed one.  _ Which I guess is really against Heaven’s rules, but half the people couldn’t be bothered to care because it’s  _ Heaven,  _ and the other half are either too scared or too supportive of Xemnas to put up a fight about it. There’s also the fact that whenever anyone tries to bring up concerns about Xemnas to Roxas, he refuses to listen. It’s like he’s brainwashed. I don’t know how, or why, but he’s letting Xemnas do basically anything he wants.”

“And what’s the problem with that?” Vanitas asks, and Riku gives him a dark gaze as he speaks.

“People are disappearing. Lots of Cherubs, but also a few higher ranked angels. I don’t know what’s going on up there, but it has to have something to do with Xemnas. There’s no way it doesn’t.” Vanitas sighs, looking down at his feet, before Riku speaks up again. “Did you ever meet someone named Aqua?”

Vanitas looks up with concern. “Once, with Ventus and Terra. Why?”

Riku’s eyebrows knit together in concern. “She’s among the missing. Terra hasn’t seen her in days.”

Vanitas feels a pang in his stomach, wondering how someone like Aqua could disappear like that. From the one time Vanitas had met her, Aqua had seemed like a very strong presence, not the type of person to suddenly just disappear. Still, despite this, he forces himself to shake his head. “It’s not our concern, Riku. I sent you up there to be a stand-in for me for  _ party planning.  _ That’s it. I don’t want you starting trouble with the Angels because you got curious.”

Riku’s arms fold, and he narrows his eyes at Vanitas. “You can’t ignore them just because Ventus died.”

Vanitas’s heart picks up at this, immediately summoning Void Gear into his hands. He doesn’t really intend to use it, moreso trying to threaten Riku to shut his mouth before he has to. “You need to watch your mouth. I didn’t promote you just so you could talk to me like that. I’m still the King, whether or not you and Sora are… Whatever.”

“Me and Sora aren’t-”

It’s at that moment the doors swing open, Sora walking into the room with a confused look painted across his features. “Aren’t what?”

Riku’s face burns read rather quickly after the question, his gaze averting to his feet as he avoids Sora’s glance. “Nothing. I was just leaving, actually. Want to come get lunch?”

Sora grins at the offer, though he shakes his head. “Actually, I came to talk to Vanitas, if you don’t mind. But hey, I can catch up to you later!”

Riku nods, though he ducks out of the room without a word, the heavy doors slamming and echoing across the throne room. Vanitas watches the place he’d disappeared for a few moments before sighing, forcefully dragging his eyes back to Sora. “What?”

It comes out a bit harsher than he’d intended, but Sora seems unfazed. “I wanted to ask you if you saw anything off about Riku. He seems a little… Off. I don’t know.”

“You know him better than I do, Sora,” Vanitas sighs again, and once again unintentionally snapping at his younger brother.

This time, Sora blinks once in mild shock. “I know. I just figured maybe you’d-”

“Sora, I don’t have time for this. Don’t you have, like, paperwork to do?”

Sora bites the inside of his cheek as he stares up at Vanitas, who has to look down at the ground to avoid feeling remorse at his sudden unjustified anger. “Yeah. Sorry to waste your time.”

Sora turns on his heels, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him harder than Riku had. The echo makes Vanitas flinch as he stares at the door, wondering what in the world has come over him to make him push away every single person he cares about. He ultimately just brushes it off, following Sora and Riku’s exit from the throne room.

He barely gets around the corner before a scream stops him dead in his tracks. He takes off running immediately, rounding the corner to see Axel standing above Xion, chakrams in hand. He rushes forward, pushing her out of the way before Axel is able to strike her, which in turn earns him a slice across the cheek mirroring the one he’d given to Larxene a few days prior.

“What the  _ fuck  _ do you think you’re doing?!” Vanitas demands, not even bothering to press his hand to the cut. It doesn’t hurt, probably because of the adrenaline, and he’s sure he’ll feel it come the morning.

“Get out of my way!” Axel screams back in his face, seemingly preparing another hit on Vanitas, who manages to stop it with Void Gear not a second too soon. “I know what you are!” He directs his screams at Xion, who’s cowering in the corner defenseless.

Vanitas gives Axel one swift kick between the legs before throwing him down to the ground, Void Gear to his throat. “Tell me what the  _ hell  _ you think you’re doing or I’ll kill you right here.”

Axel glares up at him, gaze shifting between him and Xion whose cheeks are damp with tears. “She’s a spy. Xemnas sent her.”

Vanitas raises an eyebrow down at him in confusion. “Sorry, what? You think  _ Xion  _ is a spy? Nothing against you, Xion, but she’s like… A kid.”

Axel rolls his eyes at him, getting to his feet and batting Void Gear away lazily. “Yeah, that’s exactly what you would think, which is why it’s working.”

“What on Earth could possibly make you think that Xion is a spy?” Vanitas asks, trying his best to contain his very slight amusement at Axel’s most likely completely unwarranted claims.

He stutters for a moment, before shaking his head. “I just know it. I don’t trust her. You need to send her back, and you need to call Riku home. This is bigger than you, Vanitas. It’s bigger than any of us.”

“Axel, I think you need to go take a nap,” Vanitas says, sending Void Gear away and turning back to Xion. “I’m sorry about him. He’s a bit of a… Conspiracy theorist. Are you okay?” She doesn’t respond past a head nod, refusing to look over at Axel. “Good. I’ll get Demyx to take over watching you. Until then, Axel, I don’t want you anywhere near Xion until the Day of the Dead gala. Got it?”

Axel doesn’t respond, just stares daggers at Vanitas until he turns on his heels and walks away. Vanitas watches him go before rolling his eyes and turning back to Xion again, intending to apologize yet again for Axel’s apparent psychosis, but instead finding her absence.

He looks around, confused, before sighing, walking off towards Sora’s office and swallowing his pride at the same time.

He hadn’t expected to see Axel again for a few hours at the least, but the redhead is waiting for him just around the corner. “You didn’t get far, I see.”

Vanitas doesn’t stop walking as Axel picks up stride next to him. “Listen, boss. I know we haven’t really been the best of friends as of late, but you need to listen to me. Something’s not right about her, I swear. Marluxia sees it too.”

Vanitas lets out a harsh laugh, walking faster in hopes of Axel giving up. “Marluxia? Marluxia is crazier than Xigbar was, which is saying a lot.”

He cuts a corner sharply, causing Axel to nearly run into it. The taller boy groans before jogging for a moment to keep his pace next to Vanitas’s.

“Vanitas, when have I ever been anything less than a friend to you?”

_ When you told me to get over Ventus,  _ Vanitas muses to himself, though chooses to keep his mouth shut. “Listen, Axel. I know Roxas, and he wouldn’t do this to me. Ever. He told me himself him and Xion are best friends. She isn’t anything less than an ally, alright? Drop it.”

Axel groans, and Vanitas doesn’t need to look at him to sense the eyeroll. “Yeah, you’d think that because you’re too far up Roxas’s ass to ever doubt anything he does.”

Vanitas stops dead in his tracks. “Wanna say that again?”

“He looks too much like  _ Ventus  _ for you to ever doubt him,” Axel says, adding unnecessary malice to  _ Ventus.  _ “Face it, Vanitas, we’d all be fine if not for him.”

Vanitas sees nothing but white rage as he turns, summoning Void Gear yet again and slashing Axel clean across the chest, sending him to the ground. Axel falls face first, and Vanitas is about to slam his foot straight into his nose when he’s thrown to the floor by someone he didn’t even hear approaching. He’s about to throw a punch but he stops as his eyes meet Sora’s, glancing over to see Riku pressing his hands to Axel’s chest where Void Gear had made contact. “He’ll be fine, it’s just a cut. You’re gonna hurt in the morning, though,” Riku says to Axel as Vanitas watches in silence, not saying anything until Sora snaps his fingers in front of his face. “What were you guys fighting about?”

Vanitas hesitates as Riku helps Axel to his feet, heading off to, Vanitas assumes, the infirmary.

He waits until they’re out of earshot before answering Sora’s question. “He was… Saying this is all Ven’s fault. I don’t know, I just… I got mad.”

Sora raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, I got that. Since when have you and Axel ever fought before though?”   
Vanitas shakes his head, burying his face in his hands. “I don’t know what’s going on, Sora. I feel like I’m going crazy. Like  _ everyone’s  _ going crazy. The Axel I know  _ never  _ would have said that about Ventus.”

Sora sighs, putting a hand on Vanitas’s shoulder. “It’s hard, I know. He’s gone, Vani. Life moves on, and we all have jobs to do. Do you think you can just let this go? Axel is, like, your only friend after all.”

Vanitas laughs once, shaking his head. “I guess so. I just don’t know who I can trust anymore.”

“You can trust me. Now come on, me and Riku were just heading to grab lunch, I’m sure he won’t mind if I add a plus one.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi. it's been three months and this is really short. i have nothing to say for myself

The Day of the Dead gala approaches far faster than Vanitas had even realized.

It’s like he’d blinked once and when his eyes opened, he was standing next to Roxas in front of two thrones, one white and one black.

He takes the first part of the night touring around, greeting Angels and Demons alike and taking note of the tension in the room. It doesn’t seem like it’s about to boil over, but he can definitely tell the inhabitants of both the realms are weary of contact with each other.

He notices Kairi, the girl who had come all the way to the Realm of Darkness to inform him of her distrust of Xemnas, amongst others, according to her. He also spots Xemnas, standing on the steps below where Roxas sits on his own white throne staring out at the party.

He waves at a few people on his way up, ignores a few women and men trying to flirt with him, and makes his way up to Roxas.

Vanitas stands in front of his black throne and sends a glance over at Roxas, who sends him one in return. “We did good, Your Majesty,” Roxas says, sending Vanitas a knowing look and receiving a joking eye roll in return from the Lord of the Dead.

“We really did. Still, it’s a shame some people aren’t here to see it.”

Roxas’s smile takes a hit, his eyes falling to the ground. “Yeah, it’s been hard. I’m sure he’s with us in spirit, wherever he is. Purgatory, maybe.”

“Maybe,” Vanitas says, looking out at the crowd, spotting Sora with Riku a little ways away, a small smile creeping up as he watches the two boys spinning each other around and giggling like kids. It’s the first time Vanitas had seen either of them so happy in months.

“You don’t know? He isn’t… Down there?” Roxas asks, as if there’s any reason a dead angel would end up in the Realm of Darkness. The way Roxas avoids saying the name of Vanitas’s home agitates him, though he pushes the feeling away.

“The Realm of Darkness is for mortals. I don’t have a clue where angels or demons go when they die,” Vanitas says, not meaning to put bite into the word  _ die  _ but clearly seeing the negative effect it has on Roxas. Vanitas knows Roxas doesn’t like being reminded of his brother’s death any more than Vanitas himself does, but he ignores the reaction anyway. He isn’t sure why he’s so annoyed with Roxas, but everything the blonde has said at the gala so far has gotten under Vanitas’s skin. “I always assumed it was being wiped from existence, but I guess us having memories of him would suggest otherwise. Purgatory seems like a decent guess.”

They both fall silent for a few moments, watching the people of both their realms mingle below them as Vanitas wonders to himself why he feels such disdain towards Roxas.

“You know, Xemnas really didn’t want this gala to happen,” Roxas says, seemingly out of nowhere. Vanitas casts a glance at the bulky man standing far enough away that Vanitas is sure he can’t hear their discussion.

“I can’t imagine why,” Vanitas says, raising an eyebrow at Roxas. “It’s the first time the realms have had enough peace to actually hold this gala again. Why wouldn’t your right hand want it to happen?”

“I don’t think he fully trusts the Demons,” Roxas shrugs, only slightly nipping at Vanitas’s annoyance. Axel was right in some regard when he’d said Vanitas lets Roxas get away with a lot because he looks identical to Ventus- if Vanitas hadn’t known Ventus so well, he isn’t sure he’d be able to tell the two apart. He recalls his own anger at the comment, deciding to stop letting the blonde next to him say things that Vanitas would kill other people for solely because of his appearance. He sighs, shaking his head and looking out at the crowd. He notices Marluxia watching him intently, Naminé standing not too far away from him.   
“Marluxia doesn’t trust the angels either, from what he’s told me, yet he wouldn’t dare to say anything like that to me.”

Roxas shrugs, also glancing at Marluxia who leans over and whispers something to Naminé. “He seems to think that there was some conspiracy surrounding Ventus’s death. He told me the circumstances were too suspicious to look past.”

“And what do you think?”

“I think you came into Ventus’s life just before he was murdered by  _ your _ father, however a  _ conspiracy  _ is a bit of a far jump, in my opinion.”   
“Oh, but you admit you agree you think my relationship with Ventus was suspicious?” Vanitas asks, trying to keep the tremble in his voice down, but finding it rather difficult to do.

Roxas sends a sideways glance at Vanitas, eyes calmer than Vanitas’s own, he’s sure. “I never said anything like that. I implied it was convenient timing, nothing more.”

“Really, because it sounded like you seem to think I had something to do with Ventus’s death.”

“Did you?” Roxas snarls, his calm and collected demeanor apparently reaching a breaking point as he whips his head around to glare at Vanitas. If looks could kill, Vanitas would have been sent to whatever netherworld Ventus is residing, though the look is most definitely mirrored on Vanitas’s pale features.

“Of course not!” Vanitas snaps, causing Roxas’s glare to deepen.

“So it’s just a coincidence that your father, the  _ King of Hell  _ decided to go after him just months after the two of you met? It’s just  _ coincidence  _ that he was murdered by your father, alongside  _ my  _ father? Your father wiped out our Monarch and the next in line, and you knew exactly what he was doing, didn’t you?!”

“I had nothing to do with that!”

“I think you did, Vanitas. And I think after it was done you took the opportunity to take Xehanort out too, taking the throne to yourself and leaving Heaven more vulnerable than ever while pretending to be completely innocent. I know you weren’t an innocent party, everyone does! You really think anyone believes your star crossed lovers story? My brother loved you, and you orchestrated his  _ death!” _

“I loved him, too!” Vanitas screams in Roxas’s face, the two of them toe to toe, Vanitas feeling Roxas’s hot breath on his face.

Roxas summons his Keyblades, two of them. Vanitas mirrors the action, summoning Void Gear out and preparing to fight, almost completely forgetting their current situation.

He’s forcefully thrown away from Roxas, not realizing what’s happening until he’s on the floor, Xemnas staring down at him with an intimidating glare.

Vanitas throws himself forward, tackling Xemnas to the ground until he’s thrown off of the larger man, ready to attack until he recognizes Terra as the person standing above him. “That’s enough!” Terra screams at him, pulling Vanitas back to reality.

Vanitas pants for a few moments, his gaze dragging over to Roxas who’s glaring at him with so much anger Vanitas had never seen from the blonde before. It reminded him of Ventus, when they’d first met and Ventus had realized immediately that Vanitas wasn’t just an ordinary demon. He wonders to himself if he’d just told him and Terra the truth at the time, if maybe Ventus would still be alive.

“If you want to fight me, Roxas, go ahead and try.” Vanitas spits, causing Roxas to summon his Keyblades again, Vanitas summoning Void Gear and being physically restrained by Terra as a result.

“You two need to step off,  _ right now, _ ” Terra threatens, Vanitas and Roxas still not breaking their stares.

He can just barely hear the clamor from the crowd, all unsure if they should start fighting each other as well or stay standing to see what happens. If the room was tense before, it’s all but about to boil over now.

Vanitas isn’t sure if he should run or fight or stay, but he can tell Roxas is about to leap at his throat, so he keeps Void Gear out, for defense if nothing else.

The situation seems to be a purgatory of its own, just about to break when suddenly the doors to the room fly open, Vanitas breaking his glare at Roxas to see a body fall to the floor in the doorway.

He can’t make out who it is from his platform before a crowd is forming around the body, Vanitas noticing Sora shoving his way through the crowd and making it to the front. Suddenly the room is filled with gasps, Vanitas unsure if he’s imagining the word  _ Ventus  _ being whispered from a few people, but a glance at Roxas proves he isn’t.

Vanitas’s feet move on their own, shoving through the crowd without any cares to not injure anyone. He’s sure he throws a few people to the floor in his panic, but he doesn’t care.

As Vanitas makes it through the crowd, he locks eyes with Sora, his brother staring up at him in a panic, a blonde body laying limp in his arms. Vanitas’s eyes land on the boy in Sora’s lap, sending Vanitas’s heart into the floor below him.

_ “Ventus.” _


End file.
